Clever Blasting God Stoppers
}} The party ponders the gods' motives for allying against them. Cast * The Order of the Stick ** Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ ** Elan ◀ ▶ ** Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ ** Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶ ** Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶ * Blackwing ◀ ▶ * Hel ◀ ▶ * Thrym ◀ ▶ Transcript Elan: I've never mended so much in my whole life! Being useful is hard! Haley: I'm so proud of you, sweetie. Roy: Elan, good. I was just telling V: I need you both to make sure you rest before we get to Firmament. Roy: The rest of us will keep watch in case another fight springs up. Elan: But I thought we only ever had one random encounter per trip. There was a chalkboard and everything! Vaarsuvius: We strongly suspect the recent conflict was not random by any measure. Roy: The timing is suspicious, plus the beserker[sic] giant kept saying she had to do it for "Lord Thrym." Blackwing: Oh! The clerics said the same thing. Is that their king? Roy: Their god, I think. I wasn't paying much attention by the time the demigods voted, but I think he voted on Hel's side. Roy: Seemed cagey on his reasons though. Elan: I was worried about one god, now we're fighting two? Or one-and-a-half, I guess? Belkar: Oh, relax. We're going to crush it. Haley: Belkar, you can't beat gods by stabbing them in the face. Belkar: I know that. I also know these gods are serving some seriously weak tea. Belkar: The worst this Hel chick can do to stop us is ask her buddy to come up with something to throw in our path— Belkar: —and we kick its ass anyway? That is some bargain basement godhood they got there. Roy: Belkar is right. Belkar: Nope. Still weird. Roy: Hel wouldn't even need to jump through all those hoops with Durkon if she wasn't at a huge disadvantage compared to other gods. Elan: I guess it woulda been strange if we'd gotten all the way there without anyone trying to stop us. Haley: Yeah. If you think about it, this only proves that we really are a threat to Hel's evil plans. Belkar: Hell yeah, we are! Vaarsuvius: The relative dearth of pretext and subterfuge does imply an increase in urgency. Roy: OK, OK. Just because we're up in the snow doesn't mean we should get too far over our skis. Roy: She might not have a ton of resources, but she obviously knows exactly who and where we are, and that we're coming to stop her priests. Roy: And while I'm thrilled at the prospect of a villain who actually knows our names, it makes this mission more dangerous than ever. Roy: All the more reason to stay on high alert, like I said. Roy: We don't know what other alliances Hel might have up her sleeve— Roy: —since we can't possibly comprehend what dark pact could bind the god of frost giants to her service. Cut to Niflheim Thrym: So... do I still get to be your consort when you get Odin's throne? Hel: Get out. D&D Context * Elan expects there to only ever be one random encounter in panel 2. Vaarsuvius explained to Elan the reason that there is one (and only one) random encounter per journey in #145, "Mr(s). Wizard Explains It All". Trivia * The title is a pun on the Everlasting Gobstopper, a fictional candy from Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The name was later licensed to Breaker Confections, who came out with an actual candy by this name in 1976. The brand was subsequently bought by Nestlé. * Belkar is weirded out by Roy agreeing with him in panel 6. He has similar reactions in #1026, #1027, and #1030. Roy also admits that Belkar was right in #896, and #1000. It now appears to be a running gag. * Xykon not remembering who Roy is and why he is fighting him is a long-running gag. Thus Roy's comment about Hel knowing who is in panel 8. * This is the first visual depiction of Thrym, Lord of Frost Giants. His one and only prior appearance is in voice only through his proxy, the High Priest of Thrym. External Links * 1080}} View the comic * 529627}} View the discussion thread Category:To Firmament